R. Kelly faces federal racketeering, sex crime charges

By:
Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Updated: Jul 12, 2019 - 4:07 PM

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R. Kelly faces federal racketeering, sex crime charges

Authorities arrested singer R. Kelly on Thursday night in Chicago to face new federal charges, including allegations of enticing minors to engage in criminal sexual activity, racketeering and producing and receiving child pornography, according to federal authorities.

In the indictment, authorities said McDavid knew about videos Kelly recorded of himself engaging in sexual acts with minors and that he helped to conceal them from investigators. Authorities alleged he and Kelly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars between 2001 and around 2009 "for obtaining and returning multiple videos that they knew depicted Kelly engaged in sexual contact and sexual acts with a minor."

“NO COMMENT” - R Kelly’s business manager Derrell McDavid walked out of federal court today. He was released on $500,000 bond. Accused of covering up evidence and threatening victims. Caught up with him at court. @ABC7Chicagopic.twitter.com/tokv4VkPPB

Update 11:30 a.m. EDT July 12: Authorities said Kelly is scheduled to appear Friday afternoon for a removal hearing at a federal courthouse in Chicago after prosecutors in New York unveiled a five-count indictment against the singer. Federal prosecutors in Illinois have also filed child pornography and obstruction charges against Kelly.

The New York indictment, which was filed Wednesday and unsealed Friday, accuses Kelly of "racketeering predicated on criminal conduct including sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping (and) forced labor," according to prosecutors.

In the indictment, officials accused Kelly and his managers, bodyguards, drivers, personal assistants, runners and members of his entourage of operating as a racketeering enterprise that for more than two decades "used (Kelly's) fame to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with him and others."

The group "preyed upon women and girls who attended (Kelly's) concerts so that the victims could be available to engage in illegal sexual activity with him at a moment’s notice," U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard Donoghue said.

Authorities said Kelly issued rules to many of the women and girls who fell victim to the scheme, requiring them to stay in their rooms unless they got his permission to leave and prohibiting them from looking at other men.

"Kelly also isolated the women and girls from their friends and family and made them depended on him for their financial well-being," authorities said Friday in a news release.

The Illinois federal indictment details efforts to cover up sexually explicit videos of Kelly with underage girls. Prosecutors say the defendants paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to victims and witnesses to make sure they wouldn't cooperate with law enforcement. It also accuses Kelly of using physical abuse, violence and blackmail to prevent victims from providing evidence to law enforcement.

Update 10:05 a.m. EDT July 12: Kelly's publicist is addressing the new charges against the singer at a news conference in Atlanta.

BREAKING: Federal prosecutors in New York file federal racketeering charges against R. Kelly including allegations of coercion, enticement, forced labor and kidnapping of minors. pic.twitter.com/qqFr34nysn

The 18-page indictment unsealed Friday accuses Kelly and members of his entourage of recruiting women and girls to "engage in illegal sexual activity with the singer. He is the only person named in the indictment. It describes rules that Kelly had for the women, including not allowing them to eat or use the bathroom and not permitting them to look at other men and telling them to keep their heads down.

Besides racketeering the indictment includes charges of transporting for prostitution and coercion or enticement of a female.

Steve Greenberg, an attorney for Kelly, said in a statement posted Friday morning on Twitter that the singer was unsurprised by the new charges, as he was aware of the ongoing investigations into his conduct.

Kelly was arrested Thursday night while walking his dog in Chicago, Greenberg said, adding that federal agents were "courteous and professional, as was Mr. Kelly."

Greenberg said the new charges leveled against Kelly involve alleged conduct that happened decades earlier.

"The charges arose from alleged conduct in the Northern District of Illinois as well as the Eastern District of New York," Greenberg said. "The conduct alleged appears to largely be the same as the conduct previously alleged against Mr. Kelly in his current State indictment and his former State charges he was acquitted of."

Update 12:45 a.m. EDT July 12: In a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago, the charges against singer R. Kelly included child pornography and obstruction of justice, WLS reported.

Kelly's publicist confirmed Kelly's arrest and said a news conference was scheduled for Friday morning to address the charges, the television station reported. Kelly’s attorneys could not be reached for comment Thursday night, according to WBBM.

In May, Kelly was charged with 11 counts of sexual assault, WBBM reported. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in a June hearing, the television station reported.

Spokesmen from the NYPD and Homeland Security Investigations declined comment on Kelly's arrest, WMAQ reported. Calls to the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, were not immediately returned, the television station reported.

Original report: Kelly was arrested on charges in a 13-count indictment in the Northern District of Illinois, an U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois spokesman told ABC.

Breaking: #RKelly “was arrested in Chicago tonight on charges contained in a 13-count indictment returned today in the Northern District of Illinois,” per @NDILnews spox. “The indictment includes charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice.”

In February, Kelly was charged with aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17. Kelly pleaded not guilty and was released from Chicago's Cook County Jail after posting bail, WNBC reported.